What Was Lost
by Sunfeather Angel
Summary: AU: Sasuke is a single parent of two twin sons, Obito and Madara, and fighting a losing battle to keep them safe. Which is why social services assign him home-nurse Uzumaki Naruto to help out. But can he heal the wounds below the surface too. AU, SasuNaru Warnings: Angsty at times, mentions of abuse, eventual SasuNaru, slash fic
1. Chapter 1 - Unwelcome inhabitant

What was lost summary: Sasuke is a single parent of two twin sons, Obito and Madara, and fighting a losing battle to keep them safe. Which is why social services assign him home-nurse Uzumaki Naruto to help out. But can he heal the wounds below the surface too. AU, SasuNaru

Warnings: Angst, mentions of abuse, eventual SasuNaru, slash fic

Wordcount: 3579

Chapter 1 – Unwelcome inhabitant

Sometimes he wondered if he was cursed.

With all this sorrow and death to last him more than a lifetime, what else was there to conclude about him? The first time was when he was 9 and his brother, whom he greatly admired as a child, was a young lad of 16. That year his brother murdered their parents in a psychosis, and afterwards he was locked up on heavy medication for the rest of his life in a mental institution.

The second time was when he was 17 and his girlfriend Temari was 16. She died giving birth to their twin boys. With this much technology in the world you wouldn't think something as simple as childbirth would be enough to kill someone, but the doctors said her body gave up from the stress of giving birth to two children. She had simply been too young to handle it.

But tragedies always come in threes, so even though he thought he had lived through hell in his short life, it still wasn't over. The idea of the curse came to him when the doctor emerged into the waiting room and found a sleep-deprived Sasuke, at the age of 27, holding his 10-year-old son Madara. In that moment right there Sasuke was finally convinced he was cursed. Because Obito had been raped by a teacher at their school and beside the fact that he had suffered a massive trauma, it actually got worse, because the bastard who violated his son turned out to be HIV-positive.

As he sat there and imagined a too small hourglass with his son's name on it, something snapped inside Uchiha Sasuke that night at the hospital.

Something he deemed meaningless and a waste of time in the years to come compared to his life so far.

But this very something was about to walk back into his life once more, though he didn't know that yet.

And like hell if he was going to allow it back without a fight.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Madara POV

Madara woke with a start. He wasn't sure what had awoken him until he noticed his twin brother by the door to their shared bedroom. Obito was looking at him through the darkness of the room with those stoic eyes of his, so alike their father's and his own. He motioned Madara to be silent with a finger on his lips.

Madara nodded his understanding, and got out of the bed to see what Obito was doing. As he neared the door, he heard voices coming from downstairs and he instantly recognized the voice of his father.

"…don't understand why you think this is any of your concern! These boys are my sons, and I know damn well what's best for them!" He was arguing with someone.

"I know you may think that Mr. Uchiha, but keeping them in a forest on a mountainside isn't exactly considered safe when it comes to raising children." Madara recognized this voice as well; it was Miss Haruno, who started coming to their house a few days ago. Father said she was of no concern to them, and she was only there to bother them on behalf of the government. But Madara knew Miss Haruno was from the social service, and she was there to see if father neglected them in any way, Madara heard him talking about it on the phone one time when his father didn't know he was listening.

"That may be, but they are not suffering so why do you keep bothering us this way? I educate them myself, I clothe them and I feed them, I'm not doing anything wrong! I think this is bordering to harassment!" Madara touched his brother's arm and squeezed it lightly. He wasn't sure if it was to comfort Obito or himself. Father was rarely this mad. Or rather emotional.

"Yet the nearest hospital is miles away from you. Don't you understand that if something should happen to-" Father didn't let her finish that sentence, but Madara knew what Miss Haruno was trying to say. And he had to admit, he had actually worried about the same thing several times for the sake of his brother.

"Don't you even dare go there! I will protect them! I won't let anything-" Miss Haruno interrupted father this time. Beside him Obito shifted uncomfortably, and Madara draped his arm around Obito's shoulders, this time it was definitely to comfort him.

"You are missing the point! I do not doubt your skills as a parent, merely your ability to heal broken bones with the touch of your hand. If one of them should fall and crack open a skull, what good does it do them then?" For a while father was silent.

"I am never going back to the city again, I would be the worst father in the world if I did that to either of my boys, why can't you see that?" Someone sighed, Madara's guess was that it was Miss Haruno.

"I'm not asking you to do that, just consider your options before the decision is taken from you. That boy of yours will eventually be in need of a hospital, and regular therapist consultations for the both of them wouldn't be a bad thing either. They've had a rough life I don't deny you that, too rough for their age, yourself included Sir, but that is not an excuse to put your need to protect them before their need of assistance. Please keep that in mind when you make decisions on their behalf."

Madara loved his father with all his heart, but ever since Obito had gotten sick 4 year ago he had changed so much. He would never intentionally hurt them, Madara knew that more than anything, but he was blinded by sorrow and hatred and that affected his actions which in the long run reflected on his decisions, especially concerning his two sons.

Madara sighed, he knew he was too young to be thinking this stuff, but he couldn't help it. Whenever his father had been incapable of taking a decision, Madara always felt he had to step up and assist him.

"I am truly sorry Mr. Uchiha, I mean that. But I may still be able to help you, if you'll let me. I notice you have a lot of empty space here so I can put in a good word for you and have them send you someone to help out." Miss Haruno said.

"Help? Help how?" He sounded far from convinced.

"Well I actually have someone specific in mind Sir, his name is Uzumaki Naruto, he is a private nurse and he has experience taking care of children with limited means. He will be able to help taking care of your boys, Kami knows you need this Mr. Uchiha. Maybe this will ensure they can stay with you."

"What will this cost me?" Asked father, he sounded immensely tired, like he had just suffered a defeat in battle.

"I will talk with the bureau and see if we can come up with an arrangement, but I must remind you that you chose it to be this way, and it will not be cheap." She sounded like she was scolding him. When father spoke, he no longer sounded tired.

"I love my boys." After that there was a long, awkward pause.

"They are lucky to have you as their father Mr. Uchiha. I'll see myself out." And then she left. Madara sought Obito's eyes, but he wouldn't look at him. He just turned around and got back into bed without a word having ever passed between them.

Right then Madara wanted to cry. It had been so long since he had cried, mostly he just kept it all inside, but right now he just couldn't. Not when his father hurt them this way, even when he tried to protect them, not when Obito turned to stone on anything that involved emotions, not when a stranger was going to live in their house and interfere in their lives up until his brother had to go.

Overwhelmed with these many feelings he stepped into their small bathroom joined to their large bedroom and wept.

When he was done and had composed himself, he went back to bed.

But just before he fell asleep he felt his madras shift as another person crawled under the covers.

Madara felt a few tears leak out as Obito pecked his forehead and lay down to share his pillow.

At least Obito wasn't completely devoid of feelings, when he thought no one was looking.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The next day father called them into the living room, and they dutifully sat side by side on the couch with their father sitting across from them in an armchair.

They were all silent as the boys waited for their father to tell them why he had called for them, but he seemed to have a hard time finding the right words as he kept fidgeting with his hands. In Madara's mind this was a classic sign that he was uncomfortable.

"So boys, uhm I…Miss Haruno won't be bothering us anymore, hmm well at least not for a while." Father swallowed before he went on. "But in her stead we'll-" But then Obito cut him off.

"When can we expect Mr. Uzumaki to arrive?" Father looked like someone had struck him in the face.

"How do you know that name?"

"We heard it last night." Obito said as he looked completely calm, not an ounce of remorse for eavesdropping showed on his face. Madara on the other hand felt his cheeks flush red under the scrutinizing gaze their father gave them.

"He will arrive tomorrow afternoon. But I do not appreciate that you lis-" Again he was cut off by Obito as he stood abruptly.

"I'll prepare him a guestroom immediately." And with that he left the room. Father sent Madara a questioning look.

"What on earth was that about?" He asked his remaining son, who just shrugged and followed his brother. When Madara entered the guestroom he found Obito dusting off the spare closet.

"It's not his fault Obito." Obito stopped, but didn't turn to face him when he answered.

"He could have said no."

"Why? What good would come of it?" Madara said flailing his arms, though his brother didn't see because he still wasn't looking at him.

"I don't want a stranger in our house." Obito walked towards the bed, avoiding eye contact.

"He is coming here to help us Obito. To help you!" Suddenly Obito turned and angry tears were streaming down his face.

"Help me with what brother? Dying? Because last time I checked I was doing just fine with that on my own." Madara was taken aback for a second before he recoiled with the same fierce anger.

"To help you survive Obito." Obito's anger didn't waver.

"Well we both know that isn't going to happen, so why not leave us in peace while there isn't any more time." Madara felt his eyes sting from tears pressing on beneath the surface, but he didn't let them fall. Obito continued: "He should have said no." And with that he turned back to the bed and started fluffing the pillows, effectively ending the conversation.

Madara left the guestroom, barely able to believe his brother could be so thickheaded.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

A man arrived in the afternoon the following day, which he assumed could only be Uzumaki Naruto. Madara saw him when he stopped in front of the house on foot with a suitcase by his leg, and looked from a slip of paper in his hand to the number on the house.

Madara wasn't sure what doubts the man could carry of the verification of the house. No one else lived in a 20 miles' radius from them. Well the man _was_ blond, perhaps this also affected his brain function as some liked to imply it did.

Madara was on the front porch reading a book, but he was partially hidden from sight, so the stranger hadn't spotted him yet. When the blond stepped onto the porch he shamelessly peeked through a window, still ignorant of Madara's presence. Madara gave a small artificial cough to alert the newcomer to his presence, and as a result he could barely contain a snort of amusement when the man yelped and made a small jump.

Finally the blond turned and saw him. Then he pointed to the house, opened his mouth only to close it again, and then he started blushing furiously, even his ears turned red with the embarrassment. Madara could no longer hold his stoic mask in place. He started giggling at the newcomer's expense while covering his mouth with his hand. It took him a few moments to regain control.

Suddenly the front door opened and knocked down the blond who made another yelp of surprise before he keeled over on the porch in an overly dramatic fashion. Madara was defenseless as his giggles turned to an open laugh.

This was insane, the man hadn't even said a word yet, and he already had Madara smile more than he had in months.

It had been father who had opened the door, and his first reaction after opening the door was to stare astonished at Madara as he laughed, before a groaning sound from the ground made him realize someone else was present. His eyes went wide as he took in the blonde man on the floor, who was wincing and rubbing his butt which had cushioned the impact, but apparently he wasn't pleased with what he saw for he went straight past the pleasantries and snapped at the stranger.

"What the hell are you doing on the floor?" He asked and made no move to help the blond to his feet, instead crossing his arms in front of his body. Madara finally got his laughter under control at the tone in his father's voice and as he looked on he wasn't even smiling.

"What do you mean what am I doing? I am entertaining your son, of course!" The man said, still sitting on the porch and flashed Madara a bright smile, but it stiffened when he saw the stoic look on Madara's face. "Well not anymore, I guess. Tough audience I see." The newcomer was still looking at him, and Madara inexplicably sent him a shy smile. The strangers face brightened once more in a big smile, and he finally got up on his feet and turned to father with his hand held in front of him.

"Uzumaki Naruto, just call me Naruto, at your service!" Madara was captivated with the blond man, he sounded so carefree and happy. Father shook his hand with all the appearance of a man touching something icky and quickly let it go again.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke." If Naruto noted that father wasn't as forthcoming as him, he didn't mention it, because he was already heading in Madara's direction.

"Well usually I wouldn't assume things, but you _have_ to be one of the sons, the two of you look too much alike _not_ to be related." Naruto rambled and reached out to shake Madara's hand, but he didn't have time to think of a proper response before Naruto saw Obito coming around the house to see what was going on. When he appeared Naruto's eyes went wide.

"Kami, either I'm seeing double or you boys are twins! I swear I only had one drink on the train out here." Naruto rambled on and gave their father a look of mock apology. He was obviously trying to lighten the mood by joking. Madara found he liked it, and chuckled, earning him strange glances from both his father and brother. Father coughed the same artificial cough that Madara had just moments ago used to gain Naruto's attention.

"Mr. Uzumaki, I think you should come inside." Father said and gave a warning stare in the direction of his sons, before he turned on his heel and went into the house, without so much as offering to take the strangers bag or wait him inside. But Naruto didn't look bothered as he picked up his suitcase and stalked inside like he came here all the time. The moment he vanished from sight, the brothers ran from the porch and sat down side by side underneath the living room window, wherefrom they weren't intimidated by their father's glares and could listen in on the action.

"I could really use a glass of water Sir." If Madara had to guess, he'd say Naruto had finally caught on to his father's cold treatment and this was his way of trying to mend the bridge with a polite request.

"Try the bathroom sink." But father was definitely _not_ meeting him halfway. There was a shuffling sound, before father's voice sounded again: "What are you doing?"

"I'm calling the bureau."

"Whatever for?"

"To request a raise, because if I'm going to be staying here with you, you massive prick, I'd say I deserve it in advance." The boys couldn't see the expression on their father's face, but Madara suspected it mirrored their own at the moment; utter disbelief. "Damn, I can't get through, don't you have cellphone coverage out here? No wonder they are concerned about you."

"What the hell? How dare you!?"

"Sir I'm going to be frank with you, you may not like me, but I am your last shot at keeping your boys out here, but I do not respond well to bullies, so a word of advice; at the bare minimum _act_ civil towards me and we won't have a problem. If that is asking too much of you, then you can discuss it with the bureau."

"Well I had thought you'd be a little more professional!?" Father boomed.

"And I had thought you'd be a little more forthcoming to receive the help you're being offered. So a lose/lose on both our expectations, I guess?" Naruto said not missing a beat.

Madara could hardly believe his ears, the fight with Miss Haruno had been unusual because father so rarely argued with anyone, people often just submitted to his will because he was intimidating and for the most part right. But she had known them long before she even dared say such things and she hadn't been nearly as obstinate as Naruto was at the moment, even though he only walked into their lives barely 15 minutes ago.

It felt…new.

"I am not here to listen to you sulk over the injustice of your life, I am here for your boys, and nothing matters to me more than their wellbeing. It is your call Mr. Uchiha." In the following silence Madara barely dared to breathe. "Are we on the same page Mr. Uchiha?"

More silence.

"You can call me Sasuke."

"Alright then Sasuke. My throat is awfully dry, could I get that glass of water now?"

At that moment Madara decided he liked this Naruto. New was good.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

By the time dinner was served, Madara was in complete awe of Uzumaki Naruto.

Furthermore Madara had given it a lot of thought, and he finally figured out why the blond appealed so much to him. It was because he held so many of the qualities that was absent in the life of the Uchiha family; happiness, joy and a constant wonder of the world. Madara had barely noticed the absence of these crucial feelings until this blond stranger peeked through their windows that very afternoon. It was invigorating to say the least. That thought scared Madara more than he cared to admit.

Naruto had openly admitted to the window peeping, without Madara ever saying a word and he even accompanied it with an elaborating story of his own embarrassment. A story of how he had come across a house earlier on the day and barged inside fully believing he had arrived at the correct destination, only to find that it was the wrong house, which he had realized the moment the dog came out to growl at him. The tale ended with him running from the house with his suitcase held high over his head to make his escape faster, the dog in fast pursuit.

Madara somehow doubted that the story was true, but he giggled nonetheless when Naruto showed them how he had held the suitcase on top of his head, and even the ever-stoic Obito cracked a small smile at the story. Their father on the other hand didn't respond with any smiles, but he didn't show signs of disapproving either which Madara took as a good thing, and so did Naruto, because he went on telling stories throughout the whole dinner, and when they finally left the table Madara's face muscles were sore from smiling.

"He makes you smile a lot, this Naruto." Father said as he was tucking in Madara that night. It wasn't a question, so Madara didn't answer.

"Do you like him?"

"He seems okay."

"Just okay?" Madara shrugged the best he could from his horizontal position.

"He's alright, I guess." Father got up and went over to Obito's bed, to tuck him in as well.

"What about you? Do you also think he is 'alright'?" For a moment Madara dared to hope that Obito wouldn't answer.

"I think he is a silly fool." And with that he turned to face the wall.

 **-TBC-**


	2. Chapter 2 - Growing closer

What was lost summary: Sasuke is a single parent of two twin sons, Obito and Madara, and fighting a losing battle to keep them safe. Which is why social services assign him home-nurse Uzumaki Naruto to help out. But can he heal the wounds below the surface too. AU, SasuNaru

Warnings: Angst, mentions of abuse, eventual SasuNaru, slash fic

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Wordcount: 3079

Thanks for the support and nice reviews. You guys are the best 3

Chapter 2 – Growing closer

The following morning, they all went about their usual routines before gathering at the breakfast table. Father was reading the paper, and Obito was poking his food and drinking apple juice. Madara was putting jam on his toast when they heard noises from Naruto's room.

When Naruto finally emerged from his room Madara was hard pressed not to go off on another round of giggles. Naruto, it seemed, was not a morning person. His hair was more bushy than usual and he had a groggy look on his face. Like he wasn't fully rested. He was wearing pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt with an orange spiral on it. He looked like he had just rolled off the bed and walked into the kitchen. Or maybe more like he had just fallen out of the bed and regretted that decision already.

When Naruto moved to sit down, he stumped his toe on the table.

"Sweet mother of fu-"

"DON'T!" Father had his hand raised and was halfway out the chair before Naruto finish his profanity.

"-uuuumbling buffoons." Naruto finished lamely instead. Even Obito started laughing at that, and father gave the smallest hint of a smile at the odd word choice before he sat down and resumed reading his paper.

"There is coffee in the pot at the counter" His father remarked from behind the paper, and Naruto turned immediately to the kitchen and eagerly poured himself a cup. He joined them at the table and took his first slurp of coffee before sitting down with a satisfied sigh.

"I gotta hand it to ya Mr. Sasuke, that is some very fine coffee you make."

"It's just coffee."

"If that is how you feel, you may have been very lucky and not had any of the horrible stuff they serve at my office building in town. What they call coffee, I call tar."

"You may find this hard to believe, but I rarely feel particularly lucky."

"Really? But you have this beautiful house, and some very well-behaved sons. At least of what I've seen of them so far." He said and winked at the boys. Father folded his paper, finally giving up on the pretense of reading it.

"Yes, and at any moment it may all be gone. So if you could please refrain from imposing this idiotic attitude, it would be most helpful." Father said with a stoic face and left the room. Naruto looked after him confused, before he got up to follow him, muttering under his breath: "And here I thought I wasn't a morning person."

A few moments passed, and then Naruto came back at a half jog, picked up his coffee cup, winked once more at the boys reassuringly and then went after their father. The boys looked at each other, and then followed stealthily like they had the day before to listen in.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Mr. Uchiha" Naruto began, but he was cut off.

"The point in leaving the room, was to finish this ridiculous discussion."

"Yeah, but you can't-"

"I can, and I will."

"Now hold on-"

"I said I don't want to talk about it." Naruto looked at the man in front of him like he was seeing him for the first time. This man was a dick, he recognized that much when he arrived the day before, but he hadn't thought he was this scarred inside. Because his reaction at the dinner table told Naruto more about this man, than Sasuke probably cared to let him know. Sasuke was scarred on his soul from the abuse of his son, like he was taking responsibly for something that wasn't in his control. That was a whole new level of stupid, and it pissed Naruto off badly.

"It wasn't your fault." That got Sasuke's attention.

"I'm sorry what?"

"The AIDS. The abuse. It wasn't your fault." The look of incredulous rage on Sasuke's face would haunt Naruto till the day he died.

"You have made a good point that I do not have a say in you being here, but never and I mean _never_ presume you know a single thing about me or my sons." Sasuke looked about ready to punch him.

"So you don't feel responsible?"

"Of course I do, I am their father, I should have known, I should have protected him. I should have been there!"

"No one knew, so how should you? Being a father does not make you an all-knowing deity." Naruto had trouble reading the expression on Sasuke's face. It was somewhere between violent rage, tears and surprise.

"What happened will forever be on the shoulders of the man in Konoha prison. And even though he does not feel any guilt for his actions, it does not mean you should carry the blame for him. It is rather pointless and it does not cure your son." Sasuke remained silent, and when he turned his back on Naruto, Naruto left him alone to his thoughts. The mere fact that Sasuke hadn't fought back, gave him hope.

When he opened the door he was faced with two startled teenage boys. Sasuke had his back to the door, so he didn't notice, but Naruto stared at them in wide-eyed shock, before he quickly stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him without making too much noise. He flicked his head in the direction of the kitchen and the boys followed him with downcast eyes and shuffling feet.

"So." Naruto said and crossed his arms in front of his chest. The boys looked everywhere but him.

"You happen to do this often then?" Naruto finally asked when no sound came from the boys.

"Only when there are visitors, so really rarely actually." Obito answered. But unlike with their father, his cheeks were a little red.

To their surprise Naruto didn't look mad. He looked like he was in physical pain.

"Your father is trying to spare you more pain, and you seek him out when he least wants you to listen." Suddenly Obito looked angry.

"Well maybe those are not his decisions to make. He takes all this responsibility on himself and doesn't let us in on anything. Which all day, every day I get to spend alone thinking about my oncoming death. So listening in on things that concern me, seems a lot more enjoyable than the alternative." And with that he stormed out of the room and slammed the door to their bedroom upstairs. Madara couldn't remember the last time he had heard his brother say so much in one go.

Naruto looked at Madara. And without really thinking about it, Madara went and gave Naruto a hug.

"I'm glad you are here." He said and then hurriedly left the room.

Naruto looked after him with a sincere fondness.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

It had been over a month since Naruto had moved in with the Uchiha family.

Though his first 24 hours in the house had been eventful and loud, in terms of arguments, the following weeks had been relatively quiet. He and Sasuke still argued, but mostly Sasuke chose to overlook Naruto's "imperfections" in behavior.

When Naruto wasn't monitoring Obito, he would help with chores around the house. It wasn't actually part of his job, but he said he liked helping out, and would grow bored if he didn't have anything to do.

Right now Naruto was helping Madara with weeding out their kitchen garden.

"So Madara, does there live anyone around here who has caught your pretty eyes yet?" Naruto winked at him and wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"No. None." Madara shifted uncomfortably sitting on the ground as he was, with an air of indifference when he caught Naruto staring at him with a smile on his face.

"What?" He questioned and leaned his head to the right.

"You should relax a little more Madara, or you'll end up like your father, and let me just tell ya' you don't want _that_." Naruto said it with a carefree smile as he went back to work, but Madara felt himself grow cold at the words.

"If I grow up to be half the man my father is, I will consider myself to be exceedingly fortunate." For a moment Naruto looked like someone had slapped him, then he laughed.

"Oh Madara, you are such an extraordinary young lad!" He beamed. Madara was in complete shock and didn't know how to respond. "I swear, the love you boys carry for your father is amazing, though that is not what I was talking about. No, I meant when it comes to relationships, it's like talking to a concrete wall, scratch that, an angry and armed concrete wall! Wait, that doesn't make any sense? Never mind! What I mean to say is, does he even _like_ women? I assume he did at some point or the pair of you, little guy, would be quite the story.

"But seriously what did they ever do to him? Don't get me wrong, I think it is a great idea that you want to grow up to be like your father, but for the love of Kami go see the world, and fall in love Madara!" Naruto was clearly rambling, but Madara listened carefully, and he got the impression Naruto didn't know what happened to their mom.

"Well I never really considered relationships before. Father says they were too young to be parents and that they hadn't planned for it, but then my mother died giving birth to us, and Obito is dying after having had involuntary intercourse with our male school teacher, so I never really thought about girls before." Naruto stopped all movement to look at him.

"Well I did _not_ see that coming. I'll just shut up now." Naruto said, and a look of disbelief didn't leave his face for a long time.

Madara kept glancing at Naruto from the corner of his eye. Even after such a shocking revelation Naruto took the whole thing in a stride. Not at all unbothered, but he seemed determined not to let it show too much.

Madara kind of loved him for that.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

When Sasuke had to leave to go to town for provisions the next morning, he gave them a list of chores to be done. The boys were used to this, but the way Naruto's face fell when he read it was enough to make them chuckle.

"Chores? You've got to be joking? I was planning to have a movie-day, and you want us to do all of this today? What the he-"

"Language"

"-ck. I was going to say heck dammit!" Father glared.

"Oh crap! I was so close!" Father rolled his eyes, but Madara could see it was not completely devoid of mirth when he looked back at Naruto.

"These are the chores I do most every day, so since I can't be here to do them today, I thought that perhaps you could do them."

"Are you telling me you do this every day? Damn Uchiha I do not give you enough credit!" Their father smirked at that. Yes, he _smirked_.

They bickered for a few more minutes and then father left them to it.

The moment the car was out of the driveway Naruto went straight to the stereo and put on some old rock.

They hardly ever used the stereo, but after a month at their house the boys had already stopped questioning Naruto's actions and decided just to go with it.

First on the list was that mornings dishes, so they made an assembly line where one washed, one dried and one put it in its place.

The music flowed through the house, and Naruto was humming along and mumbling what he knew of the lyrics.

Suddenly Naruto's eyes filled with mirth as he leaned towards the boys conspiratorially. They leaned in to meet him, easily recognizing when Naruto was about to get himself into trouble, at least if their father had been there.

"You know, we have the house to ourselves for _hours_. We could…turn the music up a little?"

"I don't know," Obito started uncertain, "We really shouldn't."

"Come on Obito, your dad's in town and you don't have any neighbors who would be bothered, the only things you'll scare out here are birds and raccoons which is not that big of a loss! They could use a good scare actually. Besides it would be a terrible shame for such a wonderful stereo to never get the chance to show off, don't you think?" The matching grins on the faces of both boys made up his mind and he boosted the volume.

The first song they filled the house with was Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf.

It didn't take long before the dishes were treated non too gently on the assembly line. Luckily they were done with it soon after and went on to the next task on the list; dusting!

Naruto gave them each a piece of cloth and assigned them areas in the living room, and he took the duster and took care of the top of the high furniture.

While they did this they listened to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, and as they worked Naruto kept talking. Which was in no way unusual for him, until he brushed an unexpected subject that perked the boys' interest.

" _Too late, my time has come/Sends shivers down my spine_ omg I love this song! You know, Queen is one of my all-time favorite bands! Their music is amazing and Freddie Mercury was such an amazing singer!" He paused for a moment and turned to them, but he was mostly looking at Obito when he continued. "He was a great man, who lived too short a life and died from AIDS."

Obito went a little pale.

Madara was about to change the subject, anyway he could, when Obito spoke up.

"Was he raped by a man too?" Naruto gave him a sad smile.

"No honey, he wasn't raped, but I'm pretty sure he felt just as betrayed and angry when he found out that he was sick." Obito stood thinking for a while.

"But he did get it from a man, right?"

"Yes, but that is because Freddie Mercury was gay. But HIV is what we call a sexually transmitted disease, so you can get it from both boys and girls if you are not careful." Naruto huffed. "Though you'd think being ten was a sort of contraception in itself!" Instead of getting sad from this Obito actually looked like this conversation was lifting his spirits. Madara realized then that their father never really acknowledged that Obito was sick. He just sort of ignored it. He never even said it aloud, just made vague hints about medicine and doctor appointments. But perhaps Obito actually didn't mind talking about it from time to time instead of blatantly ignoring it.

"Freddie was my biggest role model growing up" Naruto continued. "When I came out as gay to my parents, it was after an intense night of Queen music." Something changed in the room. They hadn't known he was gay before this, and Madara couldn't help but think that Naruto might rape them. Then he looked at the blond man standing on a chair on his toes, with his tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration so as not to fall, and Madara felt a pang of guilt. Naruto would never hurt them, and their father most definitely wouldn't have left them in his care, if he had thought so.

"So you like to have sex with other men?" Madara could hear the tense note in Obito's question, and obviously so could Naruto, because he looked directly at Obito and said coolly;

"Yes Obito, _men_. Little boys are _so_ not my thing." Naruto looked visibly uncomfortable and made an involuntary shiver from disgust. Obito smiled and the storm had passed. But now it was Madara's turn to ask a question.

"How is it?"

"How's what?...How is…you're not asking about the…are you?" Naruto stared at him like he had two heads. Madara couldn't help a small laugh.

"With a man, how is it?"

"Well shouldn't you worry about girls before you know what you're into."

"Come on Naruto. Is it that bad?"

"What? No! Of course not! It's…I really shouldn't be having this conversation with you…look, either you're into men or you are not. Or else you're into both, but that is just a little greedy if you ask me. Anyway! I like men, and women never really did much for me. So of course I think sex with men is delightful." Naruto was blushing furiously at this point and decided to take a small break. He went to the sofa table and picked up his glass of water.

"Do you think father is handsome?" The content of the glass missed his mouth and went down the front of his shirt as Naruto stared at them in open horror.

"WHAT? I…WHAT? NO!" That sounded suspiciously like a lie to both the boys, and Naruto could obviously recognize that line of thinking from their faces, because he started sputtering. "Now you hold on, right there! I am NOT interested in your father!" Madara was sort of sad that he sounded sincere this time. "I admit he is a handsome prick, but with all my respect he is not my type!"

"Why not? You are always telling us what a good man our father is." Madara said innocently. Naruto looked at them suspiciously.

"You two are cunning little bastards." He said and then they all started laughing.

"Alright you two, enough with the Naru-bashing already." Naruto said, though they were all still giggling. Then they went back to the list and did the chores. They made it through the list surprisingly fast. Madara wasn't sure if it was because of the loud music or if it was Naruto who lifted their spirits being merry as he was, either way, the boys were both in a good mood even though they had spent their whole day cleaning.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

When they finally finished the list, Naruto thought they should celebrate and made them hot cocoa and put on a movie. And that is how Sasuke found them when he returned home sometime later.

Naruto checked it was him through the window before he came inside when he heard the car, and he could see that Sasuke looked pensive and worried. More than usual. Naruto checked Obito's blood every day for any changes, so he knew it wasn't about him. Something had to have happened in town.

 **-TBC-**


End file.
